Fayetteville council to consider sign variance, Google project

Tue, 03/16/2010 - 11:47amBen Nelms

The Fayetteville City Council in a relatively abbreviated agenda Thursday will consider a monument sign variance for Teton Village on South Glynn Street and likely sign a resolution supporting an initiative to have Google install a one-gigabyte fiber network in Fayette County.

Teton Village retail center is requesting a variance from the general regulations of the sign ordinance that states a planned center is entitled to a ground sign that shall not be located within 10 feet of a street right-of-way, said city planner Linwood Robinson.

This property owner is in the process of completing construction of a planned center on a 2.11-acre site located at the northwest corner of Glynn Street South and Grady Avenue, said Robinson. The site is zoned C-3 (Highway Commercial) and is part of the main highway commercial corridor on the city’s south side. The property is within the Main Street District.

The property consists of two single-story buildings totaling 19,880 square feet of office and retail use, said Robinson. One of the planned center buildings is situated along Grady Avenue and the other along the northern property line of the site.

Robinson said the applicant has requested the variance in order to construct a monument ground sign that would encroach eight feet into the required setback, approximately two feet from the abutting right-of-way and sidewalk along South Glynn Street.

City staff are recommending approval of the request because the applicant developed this project in compliance with city requirements and is now limited as to the space and location along South Glynn Street for the placement.

Also at the meeting, the council is expected to approve a resolution supporting the effort to have Google build a one gigabyte fiber network in Fayette County. The fiber network could provide Internet access 100 times faster than the current Internet services within the Fayette County area.

Systems administrator Kelvin Joiner said the Google project could boost the city’s economic development by providing high speed Internet to its citizens.

While it’s too early to determine what the longer term plans for Google’s FTTH (Fiber-to-the-Home) move will be, any avenue that increases choice for consumers is a good thing, with significant convergence in voice, video and data services and increased demand for bandwidth by Fayette county businesses and its citizens, Joiner said.

Fayetteville in a partnership with other Fayette governmental agencies is collecting the information from city staff, citizen surveys and from the Fayette Chamber of Commerce and the development authority.

Local governments are asking citizens to help nominate the county by visiting the Google Fiber for Communities website at www.google.com/appserve/fiberrfi and clicking on the “Get Involved” button. A Google ID, which can be obtained for free, is needed to complete the nomination form; the deadline for nominations is March 26.